as that it should become THE drink of the best party in every city across the US: gay pride! It would be an ideal pairing of two great things that I love with the same name! Alas, the wine snobs with whom I was sharing the bottle thought it was a horrible idea and made fun of my insistence that it was a missed marketing opportunity, but I digress.Because I liked the wine I tried it in better company and learned more about it. I found out that Pride is actually the last name of the dude who started the Winery. Jim Pride was a dentist who came from a farming family and even kept up a farm while working in San Francisco as a dentist until he finally traded in white teeth for purple ones.
His million dollar idea was to provide outsourced dental administrative services and when he was getting ready for retirement, in 1989 he and his wife bought what may be the most beautiful piece of land in all of Sonoma or Napa. Jim and Carolyn Pride intended to live a quiet life on this property that had cultivated vineyards since the mid 1800s (under the name Summit Ranch, which some locals still call the property). The Prides wanted to grow grapes and selling them to others. But once they tasted what they were capable of producing, they knew they had to bottle the stuff.
Fast forward to today.
Beyond the beautiful, sweeping vistas from their perch atop Spring Mountain, which straddles Napa in the East and Sonoma in the west (in fact they have to account for winemaking activities that take place along the county line so they can pay proper taxes, hence why they will put exact percentages of where the grapes derive on their labels), the tour that is offered to visitors is fabulous. We arrived at the end of our day and were so happy that we had no other place to be so we could really enjoy it!
I can't believe that my visit was my first to this stunning property. I've always liked the wine, but I had no idea that it was going to be as breathtaking. It goes into the bucket of DON'T MISS. You've got to make an appointment (it's appointment only) when in CA Wine Country.
On our tour through the ridiculously vast caves we stopped at a few stations until finally we got to taste the Cabernet Sauvignon right out of the barrel. It was a great experience and I have to extend a huge thanks to the smart and sweet Katrina who led our tour. She was so helpful, fun, and cool.
That said, I do have to bring up one thing...having had all of these wines in prior vintages, I have to say that I was a little disappointed with them this time around. Except for the Cabernet, I found everything was slightly off its game and I didn't love the wines as much as I usually do. I think a series of tough vintages is taking its toll.
Although the wines were good, I look forward to future, better years (let's keep our fingers crossed for 2012, since 2010 and 2011 were pretty rough) and a return to the amazing stuff I know Pride normally makes.
Here was the line up:
Wine #1: 2010 Viognier, Sonoma County $42
Color: The color of golden apple skin, this was a deep yellow. Viognier does tend to be darker in color, but I had a suspicion the wine saw some oak, which darkens a wine. Smell: It was peachy, but also a tad musty. I didn't get fresh fruit nor the big, overripe honeyed flavors that I usually expect from Viognier.
Taste: My first impression was that the wine was bitter and a little astringent -- a sign of tannin. But the only oak it saw was 8 year old barrels, which wouldn't impart any tannin. I'm not sure why I sensed this, but it kind of overpowered some of the more pleasant honey, peach, and pear flavors, which was disappointing. Could have been the bottle, or the vintage (since it rained hard during harvest last year, it may have affect these high altitude vineyards).
Drink or sink?: I was really disappointed by this wine. I'd sink this one, but given what I know about Pride, I have to assume it was just the bottle or the year. I need to try it again sometime. That said, you can get a Viognier from Australia or even France for less that I think is better.
Wine #2: 2009 Syrah, Sonoma County, $60
Color: This was almost black or purple with a rose-colored rim. It was really concentrated in color, so I expected BIG flavor. Smell: Oooo, now this was more of a Shiraz style than a restrained Syrah. Blackberry jam, black pepper, and eucalyptus were all over this baby. It was really lush to smell.
Taste: It tasted like it smelled, only it was a little minerally and almost like salty earth. The blackberry and pepper characters were really great.
Drink or sink? Drink. I think this is one to hold for 3 or 4 years. It was kind of tight to drink (meaning the fruit wasn't as prominent as I think it should be), but I could see where it was heading and in a few years, with an hour of time in a decanter before drinking it, it could be freaking AMAZING. Not at all subtle, but really delicious!
Wine #3: 2009 Merlot, Napa/Sonoma Counties, $58
This is the wine that I know best from Pride, and with good reason -- it's their largest production wine. Every time I've had this wine I've been blown away by how balanced it is. Lots of fruit but still great mouth-drying tannin. It's an ideal California Merlot, but this vintage just wasn't that fab. The wine is 9% Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Petit Verdot and Cab Franc thrown in.
Color: A bricky. medium red color with super thick legs from the 14.6% alcohol.
Smell: The wine smelled much more restrained than in previous vintages. It smelled like plums and black cherry, and a little like dried herbs and violets. I thought, like the Syrah, this was kind of tight and stingy with the aromas.
Taste: Plums and black cherry flavors dominated and it had a warm coffee, oaky flavor. On a second sip, I got a sweet bubble gum thing, which I didn't really like, and the tannins were really overpowering and could use some decanting time.
Drink or sink? I would drink this, but with the caveat that this bottle is not the Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot I know and love. If you've never had this wine before, I'd try the '08 if you can find it. Amazing and better than 09's version.
Wines #4 & #5: Barrel Samples of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon from different vineyards
Yup, right out of the barrel using a siphon! SO COOL! Katrina was an absolute PRO at that...it's no easy feat, either.
The first sample was from a 15-year old estate vineyard. The wine was purple, and smelled floral and a little like a green pepper (typical for Cabernet Sauvignon). The taste was amazing! It was so fruity -- bursting with black plum, blackberry, and black currant flavors. It had a vanilla character to it from the oak and it was very high in tannin and acid, but not so much that they hijacked the fruit flavor. It's going to make a great wine once it's blended with some Merlot to calm it down (I just hope the 2010 vintage of Merlot is better than the '09!). The second was even better. It was from Carolyn's Vineyard, a 29 year old vineyard that's planted on volcanic soil. This thing was black in the center with a light colored rim. It smelled like strawberries and flowers, and also like a green pepper. I loved this wine. It was the perfect Napa (or Sonoma depending on what side of the mountain it was from) Cab. Lush plums, black cherries, and black raspberry flavors with great baking spice, and then a mineral, earth flavor that was delicious. I could drink this all day long. Wish they'd make this on it's own, but it will likely be blended.
Wine #6: 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, 67% Napa, 33% Sonoma, $66
The wine has 11% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot blended in to help the wine be a less tannic and harsh.
Color: Dark red with thick legs from the 14.8% alcohol. It was like the color of rose petals. Smell: Like chocolate covered cherries and chocolate, the wine smelled fruity, a little sweet and very bold.
Taste: This was a blockbuster of a Cab but very balanced. The wine was dripping with black fruit -- black plums, blackberry, and black cherries. It tasted like a cup of really great coffee too. And oh, the tannins. They were an awesome balance to the rich fruit -- I needed the astringency to provide a counter balance to all the fruit and smokey coffee flavor.
Drink or Sink? Drink. I've always preferred Pride's Merlot to their Cab, but this wine was so decadent and amazing. It was delicious and everything I want out of a Napa/Sonoma Cab.
Thanks so much to Pride for a fabulous experience. Love the property, love the wines and I can't recommend a visit more.
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